Love that story. I helped found a Mathematics of Finance masters program at my university, teaching a numerical methods course before we could hire specialized

Love that story. I helped found a Mathematics of Finance masters program at my university, teaching a numerical methods course before we could hire specialized staff. The students got stronger each year. My last year at it, three very strong students were trying to implement a research paper, tying together all their work to strengthen their resume. They had an impression of me as hot-shot C programmer from a computer algebra system I had written (everything is relative) and they sought my advice when their code wouldn't work. I was in deep inner cringe, aware of their hefty tuition, how I truly didn't understand a word of what they were saying. I had to think of something to say that would get them to leave my office, apparently satisfied. Then I heard their voices catch as they apologized for introducing a fractional time step as their algorithm shifted phases. "No! Always a bad idea! Here's another way to do that. I don't know if that's your bug, but..." The email that evening was profusely thankful, warning me they'd be back the next day with their new bug. Launder, rinse, repeat. While I'll probably never hang a shrink shingle in Silicon Valley, as tempting as the idea is, one can also listen to one's own voice catch. Ever notice how everything that can go wrong cooking was actually anticipated and ignored at the time? Mathematical research teaches one to listen to the faintest anomalies. It's the universe whispering truths.